The numbers speak for themselves.
St. John’s Prep continues to speak for itself. In a clash between what many would consider to be the state’s top two boys lacrosse programs, the Eagles were able to knock off yet another rival Wednesday, cruising past Catholic Conference cohort BC High, 8-4.
“They’re the number one team in the state,” said St. John’s Prep coach John Pynchon. “They’ve been having a great season. They always do. So we knew it was going to be a great battle.”
The Eagles (16-1) were propelled offensively by junior Josh Barton, and by rising underclassmen Ryan McCarthy Wednesday (two goals apiece). As both schools attempted to find their footing offensively early, the sophomore struck for a pair of goals, providing St. John’s Prep a 2-1 advantage with 8:59 to play in the second quarter. Beckett Lee scored one himself to give the Eagles a 3-1 edge with 7:51 left in the half.
However, BC High (15-3) answered. Senior captain Luke Allen and junior star Murphy Belvin buried a goal each, helping their team draw even at the half, 3-all.
At that point, it appeared as though the MIAA power rankings might have been justified in their recent beliefs, with BC High listed atop the Div. 1 field. St. John’s Prep was sitting at No. 3, even with a win this season against their longtime foe.
“I smashed a calculator into a thousand pieces during our meeting the other day,” said Pynchon. “I’m not into math, I don’t care about the math. We’re just going to take care of what we need to do. We’re going to go into practice, we’re going to watch film, we’re going to prepare, lift. There’s nothing that we can do about those numbers. I don’t understand how those numbers work, and I actually don’t care. We’re just going to show up and play lacrosse.”
St. John’s Prep quickly put all doubts in the rearview starting in the second half, as the Eagles rattled off three consecutive tallies.
Madden McGowan and Joshua Haarmann drew twine to start. Then Barton fired a rocket into the cage with 6:48 to play in the stanza, as St. John’s Prep constructed a comfortable 6-3 lead. From that point on, the Eagles flew to the finish.
“I just dodged from the bottom of the corner,” Barton said. “I just kind of saw what I had, and once I got near the 15, I thought just maybe shoot it.”
Ryan’s older brother, Cam McCarthy, also netted a goal in the final quarter to seal the deal for St. John’s Prep. Barton potted his second goal with 9:39 to play.
There are only a handful of days left in the spring season. St. John’s Prep is aiming to claim its perennial spot as the No. 1 seed in the MIAA Div. 1 lacrosse playoffs.
“We haven’t been perfect this year,” McCarthy said. “But I feel like when we have needed to execute, we have. Today was one of them. It felt good.”
